As I mentioned in my previous post “Redistricting with GIS: Exposing Powerful People to a Powerful Technology”, Geographic Information System (GIS) is the key technology behind the redistricting process.  As the redistricting process winds down and candidates transition into campaign mode, they need to be aware of some tremendous opportunities to continue leveraging the power GIS.

Targeted Campaigning with GIS

If we look at the campaigning process in three phases, GIS brings tremendous value from start to finish.

Phase 1 – Build a Strategy:  Strategists are immediately confronted with the challenge of understanding their new district boundaries and the constituents that fall within.  This information is the foundation for building a strategy for targeting likely voters, efficiently and effectively communicating your message and ultimately getting out the vote.  This process will be especially challenging for candidates from the party that didn’t control the redistricting process.  This is because they have just recently seen the new boundaries while their opponents have been analyzing them for the past several months.

The ability to overlay new district boundaries with relevant political information (age, race, income, party affiliation, past voting results, etc.) is by far the most efficient way to build this strategy.  It allows campaigns to identify the geographic areas of their district that contain voters that are most likely to vote for them.  While using GIS can make this process much more efficient, it can still be a challenge if you’re a state party official that needs this to happen across the state.  This is where web-based GIS applications (Web Mapping Applications) come into play.  State party officials really need to be focusing on building a centralized GeoCampaigning database that is exposed to campaigns across the state via the Internet.  Build it once, use it many.  This type of system will allow campaign strategists from across the state to log in to a website and start using the power of GIS to organize their outreach efforts.  A longer-term benefit of this approach is that you are exposing party officials across the state to the value of GIS and how to use it as a campaigning tool moving forward.  The party that is maximizing the use of geospatial technology will definitely have a strategic edge moving forward.

Phase II – Outreach:  With a campaign strategy built, it’s now time to focus on reaching out to likely voters to gain their support.  This has historically been done with walk lists and canvassers, but I’m proposing that we spatially enable these walk lists and allow canvassers to also leverage the power of GIS while in the field.  Through the use of smartphones and tablets, which most campaign staff already have, canvassers are able to see where they are currently at (via GPS technology) on an interactive map in relation to the portions of the district that they are targeting.  In addition, canvassers can enhance the centralized GeoCampaigning database by collecting information in the field as they place signs, talk with voters, etc.  Because all of this information is being stored in a centralized database that is (securely) being exposed over the Internet via web services, other campaign staff (canvassers, strategists at campaign headquarters, etc.) are able to see this information in near real time.

Phase III – Analysis:  With all of this information flowing in to a centralized location, strategists are able to quickly analyze the progress canvassers are making in addition to the reaction of voters.  Every time a canvasser talks with a voter and collects information, this is represented by a dot on the map.  Dots are color coded by likelihood to vote for the candidate and by clicking on the dot you can see the information entered by the canvasser.  A “common operating picture” for spatially analyzing campaign information and connecting campaign staff is very powerful.  In addition, this information will be stored for analysis against actual voting results and thus preparation for the next election year.

Campaign Message

While you may think that GIS is just a technical tool for making your campaign operate more efficiently, it’s actually much more.  Whether you are for big government or small government, I think that all candidates can agree on a more efficient and effective government.  If this is part of your campaign message, which I personally think should be, then GIS is key to following through on this campaign promise.  We are already seeing this from incumbent John Isbell, Assessor of Property, Sumner County, TN who is referencing “GIS Implementations” as an accomplishment while in office.  I am really encouraged by this and it makes me proud that public officials are looking for ways to leverage technology to increase operational efficiency.  There are very few technologies that bring value to so many different aspects of government.  By visiting the Esri industries page, you can see the vast array of government agencies that can benefit from GIS.

So as you start to build your campaign strategy and craft your message, don’t forget about GIS.  After all, it is the secret to success. 

Come join us for a series of Local Government GIS Seminars to be held in Jonesborough, Crossville, Columbia, Germantown (MAGIC Conference), and Jackson, Tennessee.  

Lunch is on us after the Seminar!

This video was produced by Jamison Peevyhouse, Director of Weakley County 9-1-1 District.   The video opens up a discussion asking professionals to respond to fundamental 9-1-1 related issues that occur when properties are located within multiple jurisdictional boundaries.  Please leave a comment on our blog or on his Ustream Channel .

On July 5th and 6th 2011, Vice President of GEO-Jobe GIS consulting, Richard Duncan, was asked to attend a meeting in Vienna, Austria by the United Nations (http://www.un-spider.org/crowdsource-mapping).  Not only was he honored to be asked but he was looking forward to meeting GIS Professionals on an International Level and  learning from Emergency Management Professionals and Crowdsource Experts with the goal of making a global impact.

The meeting summarized by Richard Duncan:
The first day consisted of a series of introductory presentations on UN-SPIDER (http://www.un-spider.org/), the Secure World Foundation (http://swfound.org/) who also financed the meeting, the Haiti Disaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti_earthquake_2010) from a GIS Data and Crowdsource contribution perspective and short discussions on several other world disasters.  The speakers that really caught my attention (all the speakers were good but these were exceptional) were Agnieszka Lukaszczyk (Secure World Foundation) and John Crowley (Harvard).

Agnieszka Lukaszczyk presented on the Secure World Foundation and its role within the Space Based Community (comprised of any information that is gathered from Satellites/GPS/etc as well as the GIS Community, Satellite Community, etc).  Their mission is as follows:
“SWF works with governments, industry, international organizations and civil society to develop and promote ideas and actions for international collaboration that achieve the secure, sustainable, and peaceful uses of outer space.”  They are an organization that is privately funded and is dedicated to increasing the knowledge about the space environment and the need to maintain it, promoting international cooperation and dialog, and helping all space actors realize the benefits that space can provide.  They engage with the space and other relevant communities to support steps that encourage the long term sustainability of outer space and the effective use of space to benefit humanity. It works through three primary methods:

• Informing – The Foundation generates research and analysis for decision-makers to promote the creation of sound policy and raise awareness of key issues that may threaten the security, sustainability and utility of outer space.
• Facilitating – The Foundation convenes timely public and private meetings with stakeholders on key issues to encourage discussion and constructive dialogue for the next steps in support of its mission.
• Promoting – When viable solutions or next steps become apparent, the Foundation formulates and disseminates policy positions that are aligned with its vision and mission in order to move them from idea to implementation.

John Crowley presented on the utilization of Open Street Map (http://www.openstreetmap.org/) during the Haiti disaster.  Base data was not available in the area and had to be built.  One of the resources they used was Satellite Imagery provided by Google, the US Airforce and various other sources.  The Images were then used to digitize planimetric data.  Crowdsource (Or Volunteer Geographic) information was used to populate attributes such as street names, refugee camps, disaster areas, etc.  Once the base data was collected they printed maps that had QR Codes on them that were used for tracking the map as it physically moved through the region geographically and for documenting the redlines that were put on the printed map.  The final redlined map would then be re-scanned and georectified at which time the redlines were converted into vector data.  Also during the scanning process, the QR code would document its final end point on its geographic journey.

The second day consisted of 2 more break out sessions that focused more on the actual issues related to creating a better template for future response to Emergency Situations, how to better utilize Crowdsourced data, better desiminate GIS Data during a disaster, how to quickly analyse the data, how to quickly and effectively initiate Space Based Agencies (USGS, etc) help, etc.

There will be a report generated and given to the Secretary General of the United Nations which will be considered by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (STSC/COPUOS) when it meets in early 2012. The second expert meeting is currently scheduled to be held in Geneva on November, 16 2011 together with the next International Conference on Crisis Mapping (ICCM 2011). (Please see http://www.un-spider.org/about/updates/ june-2010  For more details)

Utilities – Public Works June 15-June 27 Local Government – Engineers 

Utilities, Public Works, Local Government and Engineers are invited to this FREE 1/2 Day Seminar where attendees will be educated on the industries latest GIS/GPS hardware and software!

Spatially Link your office to your field crew with the Spatial Links family of products and services. Take advantage of the GEO-Jobe GIS designed and configured Work Order Management Solution, utilize the Spatial Links Field Inspection Solution or design a field-to-office/office-to-field solution best suited for your entities Spatial Links needs.

GEO-Jobe GIS is the Authorized Sole Source Trimble Dealer for Mapping & GIS Solutions in Tennessee and is the only vendor in the State authorized to handle Trimble Sales, Training, Service, Support and Rentals. GEO-Jobe GIS is also an Authorized ESRI Business Partner, Consultant, Reseller, Developer, and offers Authorized ESRI Training throughout the State. In addition, GEO-Jobe GIS is the Authorized Reseller for LaserTech Laser Offset devices and LizardTech MrSID technology.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE FREE SEMINAR IN JOHNSON CITY

REGISTER HERE FOR THE FREE SEMINAR IN KNOXVILLE

REGISTER HERE FOR THE FREE SEMINAR IN CHATTANOOGA

REGISTER HERE FOR THE FREE SEMINAR IN NASHVILLE

REGISTER HERE FOR THE FREE SEMINAR IN COOKEVILLE

REGISTER HERE FOR THE FREE SEMINAR IN JACKSON

Imagine you are tasked with maintaining one or more water GIS datasets and need an easy way to snap laterals between meters and mains, or you want a fast way to easily perform valve isolation traces. For those of you in such a situation or who simply manage water and sewer GIS databases there is hope in esri Team Water‘s Infrastructure Editing Template for ArcGIS 9.3 and 10. This set of FREE tools can automate those tasks for you, and do a whole bunch of other stuff too. I’m going to show you the minimum amount of stuff you’ll have to do to get this running with your data.

Before I get into this I want to explain that this is a crash course, so I will not be providing each and every step involved with getting this going. I am assuming you are a competent GIS editor and are confident with Geometric Networks. There is no way I can “teach” you how to build, and maintain Geometric Networks within one blog post, so if you don’t know about them ask someone who does over at Team Water’s Forum, or read the documentation, or sign up for esri’s Geometric Network class, or get a book and have at it like I did. If you are starting from scratch with Geometric Networks, just know that they are not something you can pick up and learn over night… it took me the better part of a year to get myself to this point. Also, I only have ArcGIS 9.3 so thats what I will be telling you about, configuring this for ArcGIS 10 is different.

Enough, lets get this show on the road.

1. Obtain permission from database admin and IT admin to install software and modify your water geodatabse. For safety sake, and first timers, use a test copy of your database.
2. Install the Infrastructure Editing Template according to the included instructions. Enable the Water Utilities Editing, and Water Utilities Reporting toolbars in ArcMap.
3. Build a Geometric Network, and put connectivity rules in it. Hints: Mains and Laterals are complex edges, include most everything in your network, don’t snap higher than the default tolerance, weights are not important at this point, set Fittings as the default junction subtype for Main to Main and Main to Lateral, and use Pump Stations and Meters as sources and sinks. It is wise to look at the error table placed in the root of the database; fix these for best results. For help refer to the ArcGIS Desktop help.
4. Set up the Network Editing Template config file located at C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS Templates\Water Utilities\Network Editing\EditTools.config . Hint look at every option with “AddServiceLaterals_ blah blah blah” for the lateral snap tool, and look at the options for ”TraceIsolation_blah blah” to config the valve isolation trace tool. Spend some time experimenting with these; I still am.
5. Fire up your .MXD you use for editing, add _Net_Junctions to the Table of contents, save this.
6. Start editing, and begin to use your new toolbars. To get an idea of how they work watch this video from Team Water.
7. Refine your settings and enjoy the new functionality. Hint: set default Fitting type(or subtype) to Tap in your geodatabase for auto laterals.

That should get you pointed in the right direction; now, I know there are many other factors involved in deploying this in an Enterprise environment like SDE Replication, so do some planning and see how it can be done. I do it here at Geo Jobe by replicating all of the data without the Geometric Network, and then build the Geometric Network on my replica after everything is syncing fine; it is working fine for now, and if/when the replicas break I’ll just have to delete the network and start over again… it is not too hard to pick up where you left off with Geometric Networks, unlike Topology. If faced with this situation document your existing connectivity rules, and weights before nuking the old one.

Also, I know some of you wonder how you might load new GPS data into an existing Geometric Network, because you cant use the simple Rt Click>Load Data with them; use Append  under Data Management Tools > General in the toolbox. It will load stuff in there, but you will have to use some of your GIS ninja skillz to get that new data integrated into your existing Geometric Network, just remember to snap everything up and Connect everything when your are finished, and for good measure use the Repair Connectivity Command, Verify Connectivity Command, and Verify Network Feature Geometry Command located on the Geometric Network Editing Toolbar. Be careful when doing this in an versioned environment.

I hope you get this stuff running and it makes your work easier. I was able to snap in about a thousand laterals in less than half of a day for one of our clients, Milcrofton Utility District. If you like this sort of thing check out the Team Water Blog, or you can follow me on

In an FAA conference in 2010, I sat in a GIS presentation that left many Airport Directors/Managers baffled.  The FAA personnel posed a few  questions to the audience asking us to raise our hand if we didn’t think we initially needed the internet to run our enterprise. Everyone’s hand went up in the air.  The FAA then asked, “How about email?” Again everyone’s hand went up in the air.  “Now, whose airport can survive today without it?” Not one hand was raised.  The FAA then boldly stated, “Your GIS will become the daily resource for your airport.”

I personally see it as the backbone of the Airport.  After writing the GIS Assessment Plan for Baton Rouge International Airport alongside the founders of GEO-Jobe, I realized how necessary it is for an airport to utilize a GIS.  Many Airport departments are independent from one another and do not communicate with one another through one system.  Data, reports, and analysis are not only extremely slow to process but are either printed and hand delivered or saved and emailed amongst Airport Staff.  After studying many of the major airport departments prior to their GIS implementation, I found that most airports do not manage their space well and are losing revenue because of it. With spatial data management tools, they gain many advantages including  cost and time saving solutions, the ability to know how the entire airport system connects and operates, and even increased revenue growth.  A full fledged GIS paired with an Airport Director/Department Managers that are well educated with their GIS will give you an airport that can produce more deliverables per second.  For instance, in a recent meeting with one of our Airport clients, they had spent the last two weeks to measure something as simple as a small area of airport owned property.  In the meeting they asked us how long it would take their new GIS we developed (and were presenting to them) to measure the same area.  Using an area measuring tool, the same property was  measured accurately  in under 15 seconds.

What will foster efficiency? To eliminate the barriers between the departments and an Airport’s GIS, all department users must be deeply rooted in ongoing discussions with their GIS division (wholly owned department or Consultants) to provide feedback on tools that need to be developed and updated.  In order to do this, all users will need to have a knowledge and understanding of the tools that were developed for their departments use.  I’ll refer back to my previous example.  Let’s say the planning department knew that the GIS could measure an area of Airport property but didn’t know how to do it themselves.  Instead of the Planning Departments VP using the tools built for him to make a decision, he calls/emails the GIS department, they place it on their to-do-list, and return with an answer later in the day (or next day).  In the time it took the Planning Departments VP to communicate to the GIS department that he needs an area measured he could have already measured it himself, found the answer, and made an informal decision.

Airport GIS Departments and Consultants should be used to provide additional support (not basic support) to the rest of the Airport staff.  They should be used to provide answers to complex decisions and to build applications, not provide information already available through simple tools.  This is why it is important for Airport Directors and Department Managers to be well-versed in their GIS.  An Airport Director will have more control of the Airport when he or she can visually see it operating in real-time through a GIS.  Many large Airports will (or already) have an entire GIS department in place while Mid-Sized to Small Airports should consider hiring GIS Consultants to best manage their system.  The question is, will future Airport Directors and Department Managers need a GIS background?  Not necassarily.  However, they will need to understand what questions their GIS can answer and this understanding is best learned through training/experience with a GIS and their knowledge of it’s usefulness.

GIS is in the IT world whether we like it or not. It surprises me how many people get into this without a good background in general technology “good” practices. Here are some things I try to keep on top of.

Document your actions. What settings did you check when you did that .shp export a year ago? How was that layer configured? Where is x? Save yourself the headache and keep some kind of documentation system. I try to keep stuff in plain .txt for ease of use, portability, and future compatibility. I use Notepad++ on the desktop, and am looking into todo.txt for my Android. We are starting to look into using CamStudio for making video docs here at GEO Jobe; it looks like more fun than taking a million screenshots and writing a bunch. For screenshots use the built in “Snipping Tool” in Windows 7; Start Menu>All Programs>Accessories>Snipping Tool. I also use Paint.NET for more advanced screenshot work.

On that note, make yourself some cheat sheets. Do you find yourself asking the same questions over and over? If so, it’s time to start writing down the answers as you find them, and pretty soon you’ll have a nice personalized cheat sheet. I made one for ArcSDE command line stuff, and my coworker, Tim Michael, has been much happier ever since.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Find someone who has the similar issues and see what they did about them, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call. For GIS stuff look into esri Data Models, these are made by professionals who have been there and done that – use this to your advantage.

Commit to Learning. Stuff changes, and if you don’t you can forget about being “current.” Then you will eventually become a drag, and nobody likes that. GIS is such a broad industry that there is always something to learn. I am currently willing myself through the Google Python Class. I want to learn more about open source GIS  stuff like PostGIS, GDAL/OGR, Mapnik, and Modest Maps. I need to work on my Cartography too. I’m positive that anyone involved in GIS has something they can be improving their skills on.

Get serious about security. I recently started using LastPass, and I have randomly generated all of my online account passwords (30+) with it. Now when one of those sites gets hacked and my account credentials become compromised, only one card falls, not the whole stack. It was a pain switching to LastPass, but I now feel very secure about my online presence. Regular virus scans, and maleware scans are crucial to this too. I use Microsoft Security Essentials, and Malewarebytes.

Maintain your computer systems. Do some periodic housekeeping. Do you really need all those files from that project 3 years ago? Really? If you can’t delete them at least use 7zip and archive them. Defrag your hard drive on some regular schedule, set it for 9PM Tuesday night and leave it on at the office for that evening, your hard drive and IT person will be happy. Get a backup solution that works, and test the recovery. Scott Hanselman, a Microsoft developer, has a great blog with some thoughts on this; look at his conclusions and related links.

I’m sure there are a million other things that are good to do, but it’s hard to keep up with a big list of stuff. Feel free to shoot me an email or leave some comments if you have some other tips to share. If you liked this why don’t you follow me on Twitter?

Wouldn’t it be convenient to have access to all of your organization’s documents through one, spatially-organized application?  Imagine utility companies accessing customer records not only by typing addresses into a filing system, but also by selecting properties on a map.  Or what if construction companies could look up project records by the location of the project site?  Thanks to docSTAR’s new MapConnect 2.0, it is now easier than ever to integrate document management with ArcGIS maps and services.

For those of you not familiar with docSTAR, it is a document management software package.  DocSTAR does many things, but for our purposes all you need to know is that it stores and organizes documents based on the user’s needs, which later allows for the easy search and retrieval of those same documents.  This is, after all, what docSTAR stands for, DOCument STorage And Retrieval, an acronym that also highlights the many similarities between document management professionals and rock stars.

When documents are scanned or imported into docSTAR, the user has the option of running customizable templates that can both prompt for and automatically collect information about those documents.  This metadata is then stored along with the documents where it makes future retrieval much easier.  These customizable metadata fields associated with each document are also what make it possible to later link them to a location on a map.  Creating a custom field called Geostatus that is automatically populated with the letter “U” (standing for Unlinked) when a document is imported makes each document recognizable by MapLink, the MapConnect 2.0 interface that actually links them to your map file.  Upon opening MapLink (shown below), all unlinked documents will appear in a queue displaying relevant information about each one.  They can then be selected and linked to either a map feature or a general area defined by drawing a rectangle.

Unlinked Documents in MapLink

Linking a Document to a Map Feature

Once this is completed, new custom fields are created in the document’s metadata, giving it a new, spatial component.  This new data will either be a GIS feature ID number or X,Y coordinate extents depending on the type of link that was executed.

You’re now ready to retrieve your location-based documents, a task also made easy by MapConnect 2.0.   For those of you who are familiar with ArcGIS Desktop and use it on a regular basis, ESRI supports a MapConnect Toolbar Extension that allows you to search for documents by selecting features or defining areas within your MXD.  The relevant documents then appear in a side bar next to your map.  The same functionality is also available with web-based map applications, allowing organizations that do not regularly use ArcGIS Desktop to still store, display, and retrieve their documents in a spatial manner.

Available Documents Sorted by Category

When retrieved, the documents associated with particular features or areas are organized and displayed by categories that are applied when the document is imported into docSTAR.  Common category names would include Reports, Invoices, Contracts, etc, but the possibilities are endless based on the specific needs of the user.

Now that you have selected the right feature, looked in the right category, and finally found that proposal that used to be lost in a random folder on a network drive somewhere, it’s time to actually open it up and look at it.  This is accomplished using docSTAR’s Webview application, which allows documents to be displayed in a web browser once a user logs in to the service.  In addition to displaying the document in its entirety, Webview also allows many of the same functions as the fuller, desktop client version of docSTAR such as sending a link to the document, or downloading and saving it on your local computer.

MapConnect 2.0 is an incredibly user-friendly way to incorporate geographic relationships into the storage and retrieval of documents.  It also allows for document management to become an important part of GIS.  With a steady increase in both geospatial technology and digital documents on the horizon, this relationship should prove to be a lasting one.